Workshops
Our aim is to engage and build a strong community investment with this project.
To achieve this, we ran workshops with professional practitioners exploring elements of the piece with local community groups from all ages and backgrounds. Participants were able to learn and develop street performance techniques, storytelling skills and poster design.
Tied in with these workshops is the opportunity to explore your own relationship with the Wood Street & Walthamstow area and its heritage; collecting stories and influences which will feed into the content of the performance and the ongoing community installation.
The workshops create an opportunity for connections within the community to be strengthened and developed, with the content developed within these workshops bringing a richness and authenticity to the live performance event, giving participants a real sense of ownership over the project as it utilises their local knowledge and input.
Holy Family Catholic School
Working with the GCSE drama groups we explored character. We looked at the different archetypes that exist in films today to original talkies and silent films. Using clowning, street theatre techniques and a large dose of silliness we then brought them alive.
The ideas and characters generated from the pupils, will be developed in the rehearsal room and form part of our final performances.
Alliston House
We were welcomed into Alliston House with a plate of fish and chips and a row of residents from Chingford, Leytonstone and Walthamstow. We began our workshop with a good old fashioned sing a long. This launched us into coming up with some brand new film ideas, with the residents creating all the sound effects.
We invented a new war film, called 'Help,' where the residents made the sounds of guns, ships and aeroplanes to create an epic tale of a war in Portsmouth. We will be holding a special performance of our show for the residents and their assistants.
Henry Maynard Junior School
Year 5 were asked to be the new film makers of Walthamstow. Starting with a place of interest in the local area, they created their films using stock characters and choosing the genre they would like to focus on.
Some of the posters created from this workshop will be displayed at our vintage cinema as part of the community installation in the Indoor Market.